ONN MONEY - Most of us don't think in terms of worst-case scenarios or natural disasters, but doing a disaster preparation check of your money so might help to expose weaknesses in our financial plans. Most people will not experience a natural disaster, and many won't ever be seriously injured or have personal property damaged, but some will. Use this disaster as a wake-up call to assess the areas where you are vulnerable.

Expose your weaknesses

1. Insurance coverage: Check to make sure you are adequately insured against loss of life. A friend of mine's daughter just had a baby, and my friend was discussing life insurance with her. The daughter's husband didn't have any! He chews tobacco and was concerned about the insurance being "rated" -- in other words, more expensive.

My friend, a former insurance agent, got them in touch with an agent who could get good rates on special cases. That new family could not have withstood the loss of the dad -- tobacco or not. Their insurance is now in place.

There are two schools of thought about how much coverage is needed. A common way to determine your insurance needs is to do a "needs analysis," which takes into account your current assets as well as a projection of what your loved ones will need. The other way is to consider the cost of replacing your income for a certain number of working years -- for example, 10 times salary. (How much life insurance do you need? Take this MSN Money quiz.)

2. Emergency fund: During the recession, financial planners recommended fortifying emergency funds with six to 12 months of expenses, double the traditional recommendation. For residents hit by disaster, 12 months of liquid funds could be a lifesaver. A well-fortified stash of dollars might carry someone through, especially when hit by a double disaster such as a loss of both house and job.

While we normally think of an emergency fund as a money market fund or a bank account, a Roth IRA may also be tapped in an emergency. Contributions can be pulled out without a penalty from the Internal Revenue Service. (The earnings may have an early-withdrawal penalty.)

3. Home insurance: Many policies have clauses that exclude natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. I live in California, so we purchase an earthquake policy in order to be fully covered. (Why have insurance that doesn't cover the greatest possibility of loss? To me that is like getting special cancer insurance. What if I have a heart attack or a stroke?) It just makes sense to be fully covered. The additional couple of hundred dollars a year would seem like nothing in the event of a disaster.

Most people know to check the policy to make sure it covers replacement value (not just current value), but it's also good to know if you're covered for loss of use. Worst case, what does it cover?

4. Auto insurance: When I see commercials that tout naming your own price for auto insurance as a benefit of switching to that insurance company (think of a spokeswoman named "Flo" with a big name tag), I start shaking in my boots. Name your own price? Sure, you can get the lowest price, but you may get the skimpiest coverage, too.

Review your limits and make sure your liability coverage is in line with the assets you need to protect. (Compare insurance rates for all makes and models with MSN Money's calculator.)